Nuclear power plant in Bangladesh

Foundation for first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh

In Rooppur, around 180 kilometers west of the capital Dhaka, Bangladesh’s first nuclear power plant is scheduled to secure energy supplies in the country from 2023. The main reason for selecting Rooppur was its location on the Padma river, which will supply the cooling water for the planned power plant. As the land surrounding the river is a floodplain, a company had to be found which had extensive experience in drilling in sand and could provide the necessary vibrators.

With a total of three vibration units and over 2,600 tons of ASF anchor piles with a diameter of 64 cm and a thickness of 90 millimeters, thyssenkrupp Infrastructure played a major role in ensuring that the foundations could be built. The vibrators were a müller MS-50 H3 with an MS-A420 V power pack, and a müller MS-100 HHF vibrator with an MS-700 V power pack for installing pipes in lengths of 17 meters with diameters of 630 and 1,020 millimeters. To drive the even bigger pipes in lengths up to 38 meters and a diameter of 1,420 millimeters into the hard-to-penetrate ground, an even more powerful vibrator was needed.

The soil was the biggest challenge

Sand is one of the trickiest of soils. So only the müller MS 210 HHF and MS-240 HHF vibrators with MS-A 1050 V and MS-A 1150 V power packs were suitable for the large pipes. These vibrators are among the most powerful in the industry. As well as commissioning the vibrators on site, thyssenkrupp Infrastructure provided technical advice throughout the project. One of the major project steps was the design of the anchoring of the ASF piles, for which the engineering office did a great job and developed a custom solution.